givesomefucks

Biden administration is sending $1 billion more in weapons, ammo to Israel, congressional aides say

https://lemmy.world/post/15415020

Biden administration is sending $1 billion more in weapons, ammo to Israel, congressional aides say - Lemmy.World

>The Biden administration has told key lawmakers it is sending a new package of more than $1 billion in arms and ammunition to Israel, three congressional aides said Tuesday. >It’s the first arms shipment to Israel to be announced by the administration since it put another arms transfer — consisting of 3,500 bombs — on hold this month. The administration has said it paused that earlier transfer to keep Israel from using the bombs in its growing offensive in the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah.

May 15, 2024 at 1:24amWeb
Show threadgivesomefucksMay 15, 2024

I am shocked Biden went back on his word so quickly…

/s

Show threadTropicalDingdongMay 15, 2024
Show threadMoonrise2473May 15, 2024
Unfortunately there’s still not enough proof of genocide, according to the military complex
Show threadViking_HippieMay 15, 2024
There never will be, of course. Israel could nuke the entire Middle East including themselves and the politicians that rely on the MIC for bribes would do no more than wag a finger 😮‍💨
Show threadnondescripthandleMay 15, 2024
As long as someones left to buy the bombs they’re selling, they don’t mind who or how many die.
Show threadNoble ShiftMay 15, 2024
We are on the wrong side of history and we never seem to learn from it. We should stop all US money to a genocidal government who is doing … guess fucking what … committing genocide.
Show threadvenusaurMay 15, 2024

Tell your politicians to support RCV legislation:

Fair Representstion Act p2a.co/ZraNU5n

Voter Choice Act p2a.co/9OZd4JL

Take Action: Ask your U.S Representative to support the Fair Representation Act!

I just emailed my U.S. Representative, asking them to support the Fair Representation Act! Join me by doing the same: [@campaign]

FairVote
Show threadFlying SquidMay 15, 2024
Please do not respond to multiple comments with the same post. That is essentially spamming, no matter how well-intentioned you are.
Show threadvenusaurMay 15, 2024
U got it
Show threadbeardownMay 15, 2024

Why should we believe that a more equitable voting system would solve this issue? Or any similar issues?

To be sure, ranked choice voting would result in some improvements to the United States, and should be supported on that basis. But it would do nothing to modify the current structure wherein oligarchs rule the United States with impunity. It’s just that this would empower the neoliberal Democratic oligarchs rather than the fascist Republican oligarchs. Which is harm reduction and is therefore preferable, but is not a meaningful solution

Show threadvenusaurMay 15, 2024

We would have to dismantle capitalism entirely and a huge cultural shift to fix that. Huge spending caps on campaigns would be a good start.

RCV allows people to vote for candidates of a third party without wasting a vote like they would now. The problem is that much of society is brainwashed with red vs. blue politics and it would take a long time for everybody to get on the same page about a third party candidate.

Show threadbeardownMay 15, 2024

I agree.

And, again, RCV and campaign finance reform would certainly be an improvement.

But the root issue would remain untouched. And eventually, the ruling class would find ways to grossly manipulate that system to their own ends as well - or would gradually chip away at it through the judiciary that they control

These proposals should be adopted nevertheless. But we should be clear-eyed about what they will and will not accomplish

Show threadgravitas_deficiencyMay 15, 2024

Because the electoral and voting systems in the US are, respectively, intentionally undemocratic and extremely inconsistent depending on the state.

RCV for national elections would materially address the former, and enforcing RCV as the system to use for all elections at all levels would materially address the latter.

Show threadflames5123May 17, 2024
STAR voting is so much better than RCV. RCV is only marginally better than first past the post.
Show threadvenusaurMay 17, 2024
is it just RCV with 5 rankings?
Show threadflames5123May 17, 2024
You can rank every candidate, so you can give multiple people 5’s. If you can’t decide between them. In RCV, if 51% vote #1 for candidate A, 49% vote #1 for candidate B, but 100% vote #2 for candidate C, the winner is still candidate A even though everyone voted for C. Everyone would’ve been a little satisfied. In STAR, if everyone put 4’s for C, they would win.
Show threadvenusaurMay 17, 2024
Most people would still give A and B 5’s or 4’s, so C still loses even if they get all 4’s, no?
Show threadflames5123May 17, 2024
You total all of the points. So say 100 people with the 51/49 doing A/B at 5, and all 100 do C at 4. A would have 255 points, B would have 245 points, and C would have 400. C wins by a landslide.
Show threadvenusaurMay 17, 2024

Ah right assuming A and B are opposing candidates. Kind of a way to eliminate the most popular opposing candidates in a runoff assuming there is a middle of the road candidate that everybody likes.

In RCV this might be translated differently tho. Maybe 26% vote C #1, 49% A #1, 25% B #1 with C #2, then in runoff, C would win.

Show threadflames5123May 17, 2024

It’s more of an example how a more popular candidate can lose because RCV still depends on first past the post and isn’t that much better. It’s not translated by points. Everyone gets #1 first. If anyone has 51%, they win and we’re done. If no one has 51%, then we eliminate the least popular candidate, transferring the votes. This continues until one is at 51%. RCV is a bandaid.

Check out this CGP Grey video about RCV: youtu.be/3Y3jE3B8HsE

The Alternative Vote Explained

YouTube
Show threadvenusaurMay 17, 2024

Is anybody using Star voting now? I just feel like it can be gamed. If you want your major candidate to win, you wouldn’t rank anybody else highly.

Thanks for the video. I totally agree that there are other voting systems like approval voting that may be better, but lots of traction with RCV already. Can be a stepping stone to other voting systems. Perfect is the enemy of good enough. Gotta take baby steps.

Show threadMangoMay 15, 2024
Well, so far as the decision makers are concerned, the lesson is that we always win. It’s just unfortunate that what’s important doesn’t matter to them and they do not represent us.
Show threadandrewMay 15, 2024

Nonsense! We will write that history so that we’re clearly the good guys!

Unless you’re saying it’s possible we’ve not always been the good guys but surely that’s not it.

Show threadretrospectologyMay 15, 2024

Which is why so many people simply cannot put their name in support of Biden and AIPAC democrats.

There’s pragmatic politics and then there’s supporting actual genocide. For many people that line is something they just won’t ever compromise on because it’s so unequivocally immoral, there’s no justification to actively support it.

Personally if he doesn’t reverse course there’s no way I’m voting for this. I’ve lived through one Trump presidency, I’ll do it again if I have to and find other ways to resist.

If Democrats can’t do better than genocide they can’t demand my vote.

Show threadNoble ShiftMay 15, 2024
What and vote for brain worms or fascists?
Show threadretrospectologyMay 15, 2024
No, who said that?
Show threadEllecramMay 16, 2024
Not a genocide. It’s war.
Show threadretrospectologyMay 16, 2024

No. It is a genocide.

Even Netanyahu admitted it was analagous to the genocide of the Amakelites in the Torah fairy tale.

There is no debate here, it is a genocide and you are a supporter.

Show threadjumjummyMay 16, 2024

What a completely foolish take. “I won’t vote for Biden, I’ll just vote for the guy who wants to be a dictator and who cares even less about Palestine”

Russian troll or a completely deluded and/or privileged person who “lived through one Trump presidency”.

I can’t begin to stress how completely, off the rails, crayon eating levels of stupidity this approach is.

Show threadretrospectologyMay 16, 2024

Who said I was voting for Trump?

Biden can easily get my vote, there’s literally only one thing he has to do; stop supporting genocide. It’s not rocket science. Don’t like the idea of him losing? Then you need to be doing everything in your power to communicate to him that he needs to do a 180 on this issue. People aren’t going to vote for him because you try to badger and shame them, didn’t work in 2016, won’t work now.

Show threadjumjummyMay 16, 2024

Sadly with how the US general election works, if your not voting for Biden, it just helps Trump. You know his supporters don’t care about Israel, the Middle East, women, LGBT people, etc., so they’re not holding back.

If Trump wins, none of your rhetoric will excuse where we end up, and yes Biden and the current lobbying groups so entrenched with Israel have their share of the blame, but absolutely so do the voters who let it happen.

Show threadFuglyDuckMay 15, 2024

So. do you think Netanyahu pinched his nose or something. you know. while biden was sucking his dick off? “withhold weapons, are you…?”

it’d be nice if one of the most powerful men in the world actually had a fucking spine.

Show threadMxM111May 15, 2024
Biden withhold and still withholding bombs. I am actually not sure if it is wise decision in terms of civilian casualties - I am not sure where more civilians will die - with precision bombing and ground attack or just ground attack (supported by tanks and artillery).
Show threadFuglyDuckMay 15, 2024
Yes because we really need to give them something…. It’s awfully unfair otherwise…
Show threaddistantsoundsMay 15, 2024

It’s the first arms shipment to Israel to be revealed since the administration put another arms transfer, consisting of 3,500 bombs of up to 2,000 pounds each, on hold this month.

With bombs that size, they want the casualties.

Why the US paused the delivery of bombs to Israel ahead of possible Rafah attack

The U.S. has paused a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel over concerns that the country has not adequately taken civilian safety into account in its upcoming military operation in Rafah, and that the massive weapon would inflict additional civilian casualties. At a Senate hearing Wednesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the bombs were on hold and that a smaller diameter bomb may be a better choice to conduct limited strikes on Hamas fighters still in Rafah.

AP News
Show threadMxM111May 15, 2024
It is up to, not just 2000 pounds.
Show threadTryptaminevMay 15, 2024

“precision bombing” You toss 2,000 pounds of explosive onto an area. That has a lethal radius of about 380m, or a lethal area of 0.45km². Rafah has 1.5 million people sheltered in an area of 64km² So 23,400 people / km²

So each of that bomb puts on average 10,500 people at risk of death or serious injury.

This is not to excuse sending other weapons. Anyone who still sends weapons or any form of military equipment or money to Israel now is willfully complicit in war crimes, massacres and genocide.

Show threadMxM111May 15, 2024
It is not 2000 pounds, it is “up to 2000”.
Show threadTryptaminevMay 15, 2024
So we are only talking 5,000 people at risk with every bomb? Or maybe only 2,000? Well that is a steal!
Show threadMxM111May 16, 2024

I understand that lemmy behaves as if Israel is completely reckless and even has as his goal to kill as many civilians as possible. This is not the case if you look at the numbers. If you look here: https://civiliansinconflict.org/our-work/conflict-trends/urban-warfare/ then you see that typical ratio of civilians killed in urban conflicts is 90% or 1:9 (military:civilian).

If you go with 14000 Hamas fighters killed and 35,000 total killed, that means that 21, 000 civilians killed (this number, by the way includes natural deaths and death from Hamas rockets malfunctioning and falling inside Gaza). This is ratio 1:1.4. If you go with Israeli civilian casualties estimations, then the ratio will be close 1:1. But even with Hamas reported numbers, the ratio of civilian deaths is 6 times better than in typical urban warfare. Far from general perception that Israel being reckless.

It is quite possible that it is partly due to precision bombing and that removing this resource from Israel arsenal will have negative effect on civilian to military death ratio.

Urban Warfare | Center for Civilians in Conflict

Center for Civilians in Conflict
Show threadTryptaminevMay 18, 2024
Israel declares anyone who is male and at least teenage as killed Hamas fighter. There is dozens of videos of clearly unarmed civilians being executed by the IDF. Their numbers of alleged Hamas fighters are highly unreliable.
Show threadMxM111May 18, 2024

I have not seen anyone with reputation claiming that. Hamas itself does not object against these claims. And at this point even if they are inflated by factor of two, it would be still good ratios.

Also, the ratio of civilians killed versus military fighters killed was good for Israel in the past. And nobody objected that either.

As for clearly civilians being killed - of course they are. But IDF is not Hamas - they do not target civilians on purpose, and as numbers show, they are quite accurate in killing fighters. Are there IDF fuck ups who actually want and kill some civilians? Most likely. In any large scale military such things exist, but they are exceptions which are investigated. IDF is no different than any other military in that respect, including US.

I understand that echo chamber exist here on fediverse, but the more I study the actual facts more I come to conclusion that the citiation is quite different as most here trying to paint. People react on videos that a) difficult to understand without context b) in terms of statistics are exceptions, not a rule. The overall situation is different and you can’t make conclusions by couple videos.

Show threadViking_HippieMay 15, 2024

I know that it’s beside the point, but just FYI: in most cases, pinching the nose of someone blowing you does nothing since the vast majority (all?) of humans can’t breathe in through their nose while their mouth is full and vigorously sucking.

All it does is expose you as an ignorant jerk 🤷

Show threadFuglyDuckMay 15, 2024

All it does is expose you as an ignorant jerk 🤷

If one does it, yes. I suspect Netanyahu is the type.

Show threadViking_HippieMay 15, 2024
True. Didn’t mean to imply that YOU specifically do it, in case that’s how it came off btw, I intended it as the generalized you 😁
Show threadFuglyDuckMay 15, 2024
No worries!
Show threadindexMay 15, 2024
They have the spine to laugh at all the peasants below them, i think it’s someone else lacking spine
Show threadTropicalDingdongMay 15, 2024

Biden doesn’t want to win this election.

Do you get it yet? We have to move on past Biden if we don’t want Trump.

Show threadMxM111May 15, 2024
Move where? If not Biden, then Trump this election.
Show threadvenusaurMay 15, 2024

Support RCV legislation:

Fair Representstion Act p2a.co/ZraNU5n

Voter Choice Act p2a.co/9OZd4JL

Take Action: Ask your U.S Representative to support the Fair Representation Act!

I just emailed my U.S. Representative, asking them to support the Fair Representation Act! Join me by doing the same: [@campaign]

FairVote
Show threadDeadPandMay 15, 2024
Maybe vote all D but abstain from the Pres vote, who knows anymore
Show threadLinkerbaanMay 15, 2024

If people didn’t PTSD themselves into staying with Biden for the last 7 months we’d have a different candidate by now.

This election has the worst two candidates ever. If this isn’t the time to jump ship then it will never happen.

Show threadAmbiguousPropsMay 15, 2024
For real, Biden should not have been the candidate, and now we’re stuck with him.
Show threadLinkerbaanMay 15, 2024

There’s still 6 months. I liked what Cornel West told Mehdi Hasan during his interview. It was along the lines of

“I’m not likely to win but if all the stars align then I can’t capitalize on it if I wasn’t there”.

A lot of life comes down to participating and a large part of the result can be luck. Even if there’s a 1/3000 chance that a third party would win, this would be one of the more likely elections in which that could happen if a massive wave of migration happens from the Democrats to a third party candidate.

Show threadmightyfoolishMay 16, 2024

At this point all we can do is pray and hope the ballots get hit with a heatwave and the name checked on them smear into a third party candidate’s name while gamma waves do the same with the digital ballots.

It really feels like people in this country don’t want a better future. They truely want the best of two awful ones but only for themselves, screw everyone not in your immediate vicinity.

Show threadAmoxtliMay 15, 2024
The Deep State is more than just Joe Biden.
Show threadnondescripthandleMay 15, 2024
If people wont break the duopoly when the lesser of two evils turns into the lesser of two genocides then they will never break away. Nothing will convince these people to actually support other parties and Im tired of hearing them pretend that’s not true.
Show threadNegativeInfMay 15, 2024

Past Biden? No one else is even on all the ballots in all the necessary states to even come close to 270.

I’m just happy we don’t have an idiot saying “Nuke 'em all to glass” like my conservative father.

Show threadvenusaurMay 15, 2024

Tell your politicians to support RCV legislation:

Fair Representstion Act p2a.co/ZraNU5n

Voter Choice Act p2a.co/9OZd4JL

Take Action: Ask your U.S Representative to support the Fair Representation Act!

I just emailed my U.S. Representative, asking them to support the Fair Representation Act! Join me by doing the same: [@campaign]

FairVote
Show threadvenusaurMay 15, 2024

Tell your politicians to support RCV legislation:

Fair Representstion Act p2a.co/ZraNU5n

Voter Choice Act p2a.co/9OZd4JL

Take Action: Ask your U.S Representative to support the Fair Representation Act!

I just emailed my U.S. Representative, asking them to support the Fair Representation Act! Join me by doing the same: [@campaign]

FairVote